Karnataka issues order notifying setting up of fever clinics in pvt hospitals
Bengaluru:The Karnataka government on Wednesday issued an order notifying establishment of fever clinics and swab collection centres in 66 private hospitals or medical colleges in the city, aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-l9.
It said, with the spike in number of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases, there is a need to increase the number of fever clinics and swab collection centres.
"The private medical colleges and private hospitals are instructed to work as fever clinics cum swab collection centres," the order dated Tuesday with a list of 66 private medical colleges and hospitals said.
It said they should do the triaging of ILI and SARI cases to find COVID-19 suspects, draw the swabs as per testing policy of the state government, use the software application meant for fever clinics and swab collection centres and make it available for transportation to labs identified by the government.
"The institution will collect their regular OPD charges for triaging and a maximum of Rs 350 for each swab from the patient. The test will be conducted at government's cost," it added.
Karnataka was the first state in the country to come out with the concept of fever or flu clinics. These have been established as the first point of contact for persons suffering from coronavirus like symptoms- fever, cold, cough, sore throat, breathlessness etc.
The state has improved its daily testing capacity from a few hundred tests in April to more than 10,000 now.
Noting that the state has more than 600 fever clinics and over 1,172 Swab collection centres to screen patients and collect the swab in case the patient was suspected of Covid- 19, the notification said, in Bengaluru city the various urban public health centres have been converted into fever clinics.
Already 52 government managed fever clinics cum swab collection centres are functional.
Pointing to the rise in number of ILIs and SARI cases and the need to increase the number of fever clinics and swab collection centres, it said many private hospitals or all medical colleges in Bengaluru have the capacity to run such clinic cum collection centres.
"Therefore, the order is passed under Sec.2 of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, read with Karnataka Epidemic Disease Ordinance, 2020 to control the spread of COVID-l9 & in the public interest," it added.
Bengaluru till last evening has reported a total of 1,505 positive cases of COVID -19, which includes 73 deaths and 435 discharges. The city on Tuesday reported 107 new positive cases.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
